The railroad industry uses a variety of technologies to facilitate moving rail cars. A coupler allows a locomotive to be coupled to an adjacent car. Similarly, couplers allow freight and passenger cars to be coupled to adjacent cars.
Couplers that fail to operate as designed may result in the de-coupling of rail cars while in use, which can create significant safety hazards for railroad customers and personnel as well as significant logistical problems. Further, couplers that are difficult to operate, that malfunction, or that fail to operate as designed may require greater involvement from industry personnel to couple and decouple adjacent cars, which can increase the risk of injury and death.